To Be Free
by The Neon Catz
Summary: When Lux had been a starry-eyed child who wanted to be just like her big brother, she had hoped to go out in a blaze of glory. A martyr for her cause. She had never imagined that her legacy would end in a run-down bar in Noxus, and she certainly never thought that it would be on purpose. Written for the NeonClan Monthly Writing Contest- April 2016
_Grand finale- A very exciting or impressive ending of a performance or show_

A sliver of moonlight peeked into the dimly lit room, revealing a pale patch of skin. If one were to look, they could identify the body part as a delicate hand, unmarred by any sort of marking or scar. If one were to look even closer, they could see that the hand belonged to a woman, the sleeve of her plain dress barely highlighted by the moon.

Or, if a person were smart enough, they would simply turn on the light to see her soft features, blonde lockets of hair, or even hear her gentle humming. If said person even saw her however, they would assume they were mad. Why would Luxanna Crownguard, the Lady of Luminosity herself, be in a dingy apartment in Bilgewater when she was supposed to be dead?

Lux knew however, that if she were to ask a person, no one would be able to see why she was there, when she could be "alive", and resting in the lavish Crownguard estate. From her constant chipper attitude, to her high status as a noble, to her overwhelming talent as a magical prodigy, Lux knew that many of observed her would immediately think that she had the perfect life. Serving her country in the most honorable way possible, with countless awards of excellence and bravery, she was the shining example of what every Demacian strives to be.

Lux wondered if they would envy her as much if they knew what how little freedom she had. All of her life had practically been a planned out for her, there had never been a choice in anything. She was a Crownguard after all, she had to be perfect. Perfect grades, perfect attitude, perfect thoughts… then again no matter how _perfect_ she had been, it hadn't been enough anyways.

In fact, perhaps her constant wanting to be perfect had been what led to her being enrolled in the army at such a young age in the first place. Maybe if she had been more problematic, or voiced her thoughts more often then they wouldn't have wanted her and she could have grown up with her parents, she could have been **happy**. Or maybe they would have sent her off anyways, in an attempt to get rid of her.

There was little to no reason to dwell on that now though. All had been said and done, and she was nowhere near Demacia now. The decision to leave had been done with precision and care, and it had started from what had to be her millionth "dangerous" mission, one with the particular goal of gathering information from Noxus, yet again. It had been simple, a little shift in the light, a spell to change her voice, and she was staying, in the home of the infamous assassins, the Du Couteau's as a rogue mage from the Voodoo Lands who wanted to support Noxus.

It had been the most eye opening mission she had ever gone on, one that kept replaying over and over again in her mind, even now. Lux had never learned about how family life had worked in Noxus, after all you didn't learn enemy military plans over by watching Noxian generals eat with their families, but in this case, the Noxian officials had insisted she stay with one of their most esteemed families. Probably to keep an eye on her, after all, who better to do it than a house of assassins?

There had only been three occupants in the house, and she had only stayed for two days. But from the mere glimpses she had seen between the Du Couteau's, she could tell that it was far more comfortable and caring than she had ever seen her own family. They were all forcefully polite, and Lux could tell they were extremely wary of her, though she exactly couldn't blame them.

She had left the house before the second day had gone, but thoughts about Noxus plagued her mind. Particularly during the first night, when Talon had returned from a mission.

* * *

 ** _Flashback_**

 _Lights flashed in the front window, immediately rousing Lux from sleep. She listened as the front door creaked open before cautiously rolling out of bed, grabbing her baton from her belongings and bending the light away from herself. Creeping to her bedroom door, she unlocked it quietly and gently cracked it open. Peering out the small opening, she saw two figures heading towards the living room. She soundlessly followed them and waited just outside the door frame, ever so carefully gazing over the edge to see._

 _The first person that she could make out was Katarina, her crimson red hair giving her away easily. The second was a man, who Lux almost didn't recognize without his hood on._

 _"Did you finish the mission?" asked Katarina, laying bandages and antiseptic on the coffee table as she rummaged through a first aid kit._

 _"Yeah," replied Talon. "No witnesses or evidence."_

 _"Good," noted Katarina. "Have the report ready by tomorrow."_

 _"I already finished it on the trip back," said Talon._

 _"Suspicious driver?" guessed Katarina._

 _Talon nodded, "I finished the report while I was waiting for him to make a move."_

 _"Did he?" she inquired._

 _"About an hour before I got back he made a wrong turn and then stopped the carriage," he started. "I stabbed him before he reached for the gun and walked the rest of the way."_

 _"The body?"_

 _"In a ditch."_

 _The two seemed ever so casual about murder that it sent a chill down Lux's spine. Then again neither of them had ever failed a mission, so it shouldn't surprise her in the slightest._

 _"Shirt," stated Katarina, taking a white towel and dipping it in antiseptic._

 _Talon wordlessly pulled his shirt over his head, expressionless as Katarina treated his wounds. A soft rattling noise pulled Lux's attention from the pair and she nearly jumped when she saw Cassiopeia slithering down the stairs. The snake woman didn't even turn her head towards Lux however, as she looked at the pair of assassins with distaste._

 _"You're late," she sneered._

 _Talon glanced at the clock on the wall before shrugging, "The target was a paranoid bastard, he decided to have guards around him at all times."_

 _"Did you get rid of all the bodies?" she asked._

 _A nod answered her as Katarina placed a bandage over Talon's cheek where a paper thin slice was still trickling blood._

 _As the trio continued conversing, Lux forced herself to look away and return to her room, carefully shutting her door and placing her baton back into its case. Every action between them carefully ran itself over in her mind as she deciphered them. Despite their harsh words and grim topic, she could see through every facade._

 _"Did you finish the mission?" doubled as "Are you okay?"._

 _"You're late." was "I was worried where you were"._

 _The short and blunt conversations only showed how close they were… Lux left early the next day._

* * *

Questions had raced through mind since then. Why had Katarina immediately gone to greet Talon? Why hadn't he dressed his own wounds? Why had he allowed her to dress his wounds? Why had Cassiopeia go to greet them as well? Most importantly however, how could the most harsh of societies, one that valued strength over everything, one that could kill their own soldiers for the sake of victory, have a family that was more caring than her own?

Lux couldn't remember the last time her parents even knew she went on a mission. Garen had never greeted her when she came back, if he were in the house at all, and he would just order her to the infirmary if he even noticed if she were injured in the first place. She couldn't name a single time her family had actually given a damn about her well-being, it was just empty praises and encouragement to "do better".

After she had left the Du Couteau house however, that made her mission infinitely more annoying, seeing as she couldn't use the same alias, after all why would a supporter just run from the _kind_ Noxians housing them? She didn't want to have to deal with her superiors if asked why she did, until the idea hit her that she didn't have to. A plan had already begun forming, and it had been all too easy to execute.

* * *

 _ **Flashback**_

 _Ordering a water at a bar in Noxus was practically taboo, and Lux was well aware of this as she faked taking a sip of her water bottle. She could already feel the eyes staring at her, and she had to resist the smile tugging at her lips at the predators around her closed in. She had nothing obstructing her face, and had made sure that her normal hair and voice were showing. She wanted everyone to know just who she was._

 _"What's a pretty girl like you doing here?" asked a man, just a year or two older than herself._

 _Now came the fun part._

 _"Oh, I-I'm…" stuttered Lux._

 _"You're what?" he asked._

 _"I'm… just passing by," said Lux, waiting a moment before answering as she began twiddling her fingers._

 _"I think I recognize you actually," he said, smirking._

 _"I don't know what you're talking about," replied Lux, purposefully avoiding his gaze._

 _"I think you do, don't you_ _ **Lux Crownguard**_ _?" his smirk turning into a grin as he stressed her name loudly._

 _"Don't call me Lux!" she growled, before she realized her "mistake" and began backing away, pulling out her baton._

 _Her eyes immediately went to the dagger he was gripping and she muttered under her breath, casting a weak shield around herself, just as he went to stab her abdomen. Enough to stop it from killing her, and also enough to get blood on the dagger. One dramatic fall later and a trick to make the light fade away from her body, and one of Demacia's most famous figures was dead._

 _From there, it was child's play as she weaved her way out of the bar, escaping into the night air as cheers of her death rang out behind her._

* * *

And Lux had never felt more free than in that moment. In a enormous world with endless possibilities where she could do anything she wanted to, the adrenaline pumping through her veins made any worries she could possibly have melt away. She had a bleeding cut stretching across her stomach, no money, and no clue what she was going to do after this, but Luxanna Crownguard was dead but at the same time, she was more alive than she had ever been.

 **A/N: On a scale of 1-10 how easy was it to tell that I had no clue where I was going with this?**


End file.
